Method of making hot-water tanks



A ril 1927. p cat-F; SCHWARTZ METHOD OF' MAKING HOT WATER TANKS Filed Nov. 11 1922 atbouwq Patented Apr. 19, 1927.

was srars earelar oraicai A i GERHABDT F. seswaca'rz, or sr. LOUIS, ivr-issonari METHOD or MAKINGEOT-WATER TANKS. 1"

Application filed November 11',1922.""Se1'ia1 N01600A81i' The present'invention relates-to improvements in hot water tank construction andmethods for constructing such tanks in which economyand strength are sought to be secured: v

Now in" the present construction of hot water tanks, "both the cylindrical" body and the tops and bottoms,'or heads, are madeof sheetzcopper; which is relatively thin and malleable and therefore not possessed of'any considerable strength but supplying the de siredqua-hties of 'hlgll conductivity to permit of'a ready transference ofheat'through the tank walls and a 'proper resistance to the direct applicationofrlieat'to avoidthe burning' out of. parts of the tank and to the deteriorating v effects of heated water; i

Becatiseof this thinness and malleability' in the slieetcopper; it has always presented considerable "of' aprob l'em to boiler makers and coppersinith's a adequately and *etfec-- secure to the tankthe water pipes. Due to it'smalleab'ility'and the thin charactively ter of sheet copper,:-it:'has been found-impracticable to securethe' water pipes d-irectthis *material' and 'resort'must be had ly in to the placement of fittings or spuds in-the coppenheads or walls of the tank to receive the pipes, carefully and skillfully operated upon :at

great cost of. coppersmith laborto receive fittings which "are necessarily"expensive;

The "coppe1' itself off which the heads are made is at avery"higlrfigure'in the market and altogether; the labor-,"an'd cost of the heads. and the fittings soiircrease'the cost of production of. hot water'tanks' that it has become 'a' most perplexing-problem-to" manufacturers-of such'devices tobe able to produce and marketvthem', particularly under prevailing market "conditions; at an adequate profit? It is-arr object of the present-invention-to deal with this situation "by dispensing en tirely with any labor upon'hot water tank construct-ion heretofore required of" the cop- 'secondly'to' reducethe cost of persmith"; the material of whichtank heads are made and at the; same'time to replacethis copper sheet material by a casting, which is also a cheaper variety and combined with the cheapness in the material itself and the inexpensiveness of producing a cast article as againsta sheet metal article to thus materially reduce the cost of this item; and thirdly to dispense entirely with east lower portion of a hot "Watertank shbwin'g" *a slight modification.

and of course the copper must be 'a material' possessing the same qualities 'o'f thickness suitable ito' provide therein open '95 lugs to receive the waterpipesand t'o' firmly the several views? '="Figure-1 is a verticalsectiona'l view of 'a 1 hot water tank constructed 'acc'ording' 'to the present invention;

f YQ is atop plan view of the same. Figure3 1s a fragmentarysectionofthe Figure 4 is "airedge view of the bottom v head; and

Figu're 5 -is a fragmentaryenlarged sec- 'tiont-hrough the joint between the bot'ton'i" head and the sheet metal body."- 30 Referring= more particularly to the draw 1 Signates"the sheet copper body of which-hot water'tanksare cu'sto'i'r'iarily -made: The body is'tubular and gene'rai ly cylindrical with open ends which-are cording to the present "custom closed headsalso bfsh'eet copper:

Howeveraccordingto the invention 'I d ispose with the relatively "thin inalleable' 1 copper heads and in their place I suhstitute o'i a head thicker in construction; made 7 from high" conductivity and resistance'to heat and water action and whichis of a character and hold these pipes 'iir'placefrn lealetight i fas'h ion without-thelikelihoo'dof the pipestearing out of the heads which *isa source 'of much annoyance and expense with the sheetcbpper" *c-onstruotloni" bronze -as' this' inater ial liossesses'theneces? sary "conductivity and 1'esistance' -'t0 heat: 165 The heads are cast which is permissible by the material used and this greatly reduces the expense as compared with the sheet metal article. Moreover the casting enables the provision of greater thickness in the heads as compared with the sheet metal heads and this ram-es to better constrain tion by reason of the fact that suitable depth is afforded for the drilling of openings 4 and 5. These openings are also machined and .are an integral part of the brass or phosphor bronze heads and they receive the water pipes directly and they present the necessary area against faces of the water pipes to properly support them, while at the same time the rigid and hard character of the brass or phosphor bronze avoids any tendency of the pipes to tear through the heads.

The outer head 2 is provided with a depending marginal flange 6 which is of a diameter to snugly fit within the upper open end of the cylindrical copper body 1. The body is sweated and shrunk on or brazed to the flange these being thereafter riveted as indicated at 7 and sealed with suitable luting, if desired this connection can also be brazed. In the instance shown a center fine 8 passes up through the upper head 2, the head being provided with an upwardly directed flange 9 fitting tightly against the line and being secured thereto if desired in any feasible manner, brazing, sweating or riveted.

The lower head 3 or bottom is also provided with a downwardly turned flange 10 fitting in the lower end of the body 1 and being sweated therein and having the rivets 11 passed through the two thicknesses. An upwardly directed flange 12 fits against the wider portion 13 of the flue and is brazed, riveted or otherwise secured thereto. In this instance a half size head 14 is required to connect the portions 8 and 13 of the flue and if desired this head may be also of cast brass or phosphor bronze. Rivets 15and 16 or other suitable fastenings are employed to secure this intermediate head with the flue parts.

N ow in Figures 3 and 1 a slight modification is shown in which lugs 17 are produced above the flange 10 of the bottom head 3 in position to lie snugly against the inner face of the cylindrical body adjacent the bottom of the tank. The lug is drilled, inachined and threaded as indicated at 18 and the copper of: the body is i nincturcd as at 19 to register with the opening 18. In this case the connection of the water pipes is made through the side wall. of the tank rather than through the heads and by the provision of the lug 1.7, a firm support for the pipes is provided thus avoiding the tearing out of the opening 10 in the copper and the need of expensive tit-tings within the opening 19 and also with the excessive cost of coppersmith work in mounting these fittings in place.

Now in Figure is indicated an enlarged. .lGW showing to some extent the diilerent characteristics of sheet copper and cast brass or phosphor bronze. The phosphor bronze or brass is of a more rigid mass and the casting of this material. results in a porous structure. The copper, being malleable, and particularly under the influence o't sweating, will enter the pores and interstices of the head flange and it is also preferred to place the copper under pressure to :torcc it initimately into the head structure. Pr lerably the flange will be machined on its outer face but microscopic pores will still exist and by the sweating and pressing, or brazing under such conditions, of the copper mass the heat will produce a more initimatc union between these two.

it will be appreciated from the foregoing that the invention enables me to reduce the cost of manufacture and to eliminate the necessity for putting in special fittings in the openings to receive the water pipes and in general the improvement contributes materially to the production of commercially better hot water tanks.

I have shown and described a preferred and satisfactory construction and in connection therewith have detailed the steps of the process but *211'i0us changes and modifications could of course be made and I reserve the right to all changes and modifications as may come fairly within the scope of the following claim:

lVhat is claimed:

That method of constructing hot water tanks which consists in making a sheet metal body part with open ends, casting copper alloy rigid heads and fitting the same in the open ends of said sheet metal body part to brace and strengthen the same, sweating the ends of the body part onto said rigid heads to seal the heads therein, riveting the heads to the body part to reinforce the conneotion between the heads and the body part, and makii'ig threaded openings through said rigid cast heads to directly receive pipes leading to and from the ta uk without the use of spuds and fittings.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my invention, 1 have signed my name hereunder.

GERHARDT F. SCHVARTZ. 

